Loopholes
by kikeda
Summary: There was something about Lily that James just couldn't quite put his finger on. x There was something particularly off about James Potter today, Lily decided.


There was something about Lily that James just couldn't quite put his finger on. And, for pete's sake (quite literally, actually, Peter Pettigrew felt like he was about to go crazy with all of James's "It can't be her hair…. Did she grow? No. It's not her clothes either. Bloody hell!") James needed to figure it out!

Honestly, the guy was so whipped he couldn't stand to have there be something about Lily he didn't know. He knew her favorite type of chocolate was white (why, though, he didn't understand. White chocolate was the murderer of all things good, in his eyes) and that her favorite fruit were grapes. James also knew deeper things about Lily, like how she bit her lip when nervous, and how she was afraid of sickness, because her dad died in 3rd year of cancer. He knew how Lily hated that she couldn't have been there when he died, and as Petunia still reminded her- only her dad's 'true, most loyal and loving' family had been there, because Lily was at school turning teacups into rats and making things fly.

In fact, James thought he was pretty close to Lily. Or, at least, closer then they were before. All those hours in the head dorms plotting prefect meetings and round schedules, meals, and even the occasional prank made James think that they were at least friends, so Merlin be darned- James would find out what's up!

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There was something particularly off about James Potter today, Lily decided. First, he was staring at her. Now, Lily didn't just mean the casual hey-you-be-looking-fine stare that he looked at her almost every day with- no. Lily meant an I-am-observing-every-single-part-of-Lily-Evans stare, which made her highly uncomfortable. And Lily Marie Evans, she didn't like to be uncomfortable. Lily Marie Evans was the _queen_ of comfortable, and Merlin be darned- James Potter was not going to take that (self-given, yes, but that's not important) title away from her.

Secondly, James and Lily, yes, they grudgingly got along, but something about James today was just… handsome. It took all of Lily's Gryffindor courage to admit this to herself, but maybe it was the way his brooding eyes stared at her, unaware that she could see him from the corner of her eye, or maybe it was that his hair wasn't was as mussed as usual, for James had been too busy staring at her to thread his fingers through once again. But, it could also be the strange absence of Sirius Black, for he was missing for some unknown reason (the rumors, though! Honestly, how scandalous could one guy get?) Yet it could also be that Lily's opinion of James may have simply changed. She had realized, yes, that James wasn't what she had thought he was, and that he could actually be caring and hardworking, and not all of his pranks were horrible. Lily, in fact, had partaken in a few of these pranks (much to the shock of all of Hogwarts) once she realized not every single one of them were so bad. Lily's charm work was dangerous when put together with the Marauder's separate abilities, so on Halloween, when every single staircase turned into giant, flying, pumpkins, you can probably guess how Professor McGonagall's face looked when she along James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus had confessed to the crime. It was the harmless things Lily didn't mind, in fact, if anything she realized, that prank was the first thing to make Lily change her mind about James. He was so dedicated to that prank (or maybe it was just because Lily was working with them) that he spent hours of time with the others cooped up in the head dorms instead of wreaking havoc throughout the school.

So, when Lily glanced over at James to see if he was still at her (he was, it unnerved her even more) she decided that, maybe, even after all this hate and fighting, James Potter wasn't all too horrible.

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Exactly 7 minutes and 19 seconds after lessons had ended James Potter could be seen running to the head dorm to grab his invisibility cloak.

Exactly 8 minutes and 26 seconds after lessons ended James Potter could not be found anywhere, for he was determinedly observing Lily Evans. Not stalking, no, James Potter didn't _stalk._ He just, well, he determinedly observed. This wasn't the first time he had done this; in fact, this was one of many times of Project D.O.L.E, because when James was in forth year, he decided he wanted to know every single little thing about Lily Evans, and so Project Determinedly Observe Lily Evans was born. Because of this, James knew pretty much everything about Lily, from her favorite color to why she named her cat Muffles. But this time, James had a new mission: Find Out What's Different About Lily. Project F.O.W.D.A.L.

And so, because of Project F.O.W.D.A.L, James left the portrait hole tripping on the bottom of the cloak he was currently hidden under, and ran smack dab into Sirius, who was back from wherever (James was sure he would find out later that night)

"Cheers, mate!" James shouted, sprinting down the corridor. He had taken a peek at the map before he left, and Lily was still in the charms classroom, which, luckily, was only two corridors away.

James sneakily opened the charm classroom door, but Lily Evans was always a very sneaky person herself, and knew all the tricks. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when Lily's caterwauling charm went off, alerting her with his presence.

"Who's there?" She asked tersely, staring straight at him.

Was the cloak not working? Did she have some sort of magic eye? Was she half-cat? James could see the posters now: "LILY EVANS, HALF-CAT AND HALF-WITCH. WANTED FOR BRUTAL MURDER OF JAMES THEODORE POTTER" but no, the half-cat girl just turned around and muttered something about a faulty charm. Now, James didn't _mean_ to say anything aloud, but Merlin she looked so beautiful, standing at a table covered by papers and papers of who knows what, red hair glistening, green eyes sparkling. Lily Evans was a goddess, James decided.

"AH! WHO'S THERE?!" Lily screamed (James probably would have screamed, too, if somebody invisible had said something about his beauty)

James Potter could have turned and left Project F.O.W.D.A.L for another day, and James Potter could have revealed himself to Lily, but James Potter was also known as Prongs, and Prongs is a marauder, and marauders do not simply leave or reveal their identities without pranking _something._

"Guess." He commanded her, making her jump.

"James. I'm not thick."

"What?! No fair! How did you know?" He whined, sounding like a child when their sibling got something they didn't.

"Identity ward on the doorway. Honestly, do you think I would let just anyone in here… invisible or not?"

"Identity ward? But… those only let certain people in past the ward."

"Yes, James, that is the concept of an I-ward. Congrats!"

"And knowing you… you would have done the most powerful ward, which only lets one other person in." James said smugly, when Lily's blush gave the confirmation James needed.

"You picked me?" He felt quite mystified, yet rather honored. (The goddess picked _him_!)

"Why are you here?" Lily asked, effectively changing the subject, "Doleing again?"

"What?"

"Oh, you know, what was it? Project Dole?"

"You _know_ about that?!"

"James, James, James. You, mister, are an absolute _rubbish_ determined observer."

"You _know_ about that?"

Lily gave a noncommittal shrug.

"You should really just get over yourself and just call it stalking."

"It's not stalking! It's determinedly observing!"

"Stalking"

"Whatever." James said grudgingly, trying to think of something to say (He had found out previously that whenever he was around Lily all of his smooth-talking abilities he had learned from Sirius went out the window)

"What are you working on?" He decided was safe enough.

"I don't believe you're classified to know that, Mr. Potter."

"I'm the only person allowed in, am I not?"

"Well… yeah." She said, and then after a moments pause, "I'm trying to find a loophole in an old law."

"Oh yeah? Well, I've been told that I'm quite good at finding loopholes."

She scoffed, "Not in this one, it's _impossible_."

"What law is it?"

"It's extremely long and complicated, but it in a nutshell, it says muggleborns can't open up a Gringotts account unless they're gifted one, or marry into a family that does have one."

"What? I thought the goblins controlled that?"

"You'd be surprised, actually, how little control the goblins have over Gringotts. They only run the bank, and do owners' bidding. And, apparently, the owners are all pureblood obsessed."

"So you're trying to find a way to get an account? I can just gift you one, you know, if you want. I have plenty. Merlin, that sounds horrible, but I wouldn't mind, and it would save you all this trouble."

"That would be wonderful, but James, think about all the other muggleborns who have to keep their gold in their house, or in a friend's vault. I have to do this for them, too."

"Okay," James resigned, "Let's find a loophole."

So, exactly 9 hours and 29 minutes (26 seconds, to be precise) after curfew ('Head business, Professor. We can only do it the dead of night, you know!') when Lily was pretty much falling asleep on James, they found It. It was the loophole that could be found in the depths of section LXVIII, subsection XIV, lines 14-20.

"Lils. Lils! We did it! _We_ _found your loophole! _You can have your Gringotts account! We've done it!" James celebrated, turning his head from the papers to Lily.

Lily hadn't quite realized how close they had been working together until then. She could see every single one of his eyelashes, and he her every freckle.

Lily wasn't quite sure why she did it- maybe it was because it was half seven, maybe it was because she was delirious out of tiredness, and maybe it was because James wasn't all too horrible.

But regardless of the reason, the action was the same.

Lily Marie Evans kissed James Theodore Potter right smack dab on the lips, hindering pretty much every feeling of tiredness in her- pretty much every feeling at all, because kissing James Potter was like freezing in time, the only feeling his lips on yours and the wanting of it to never end.

James' lips moved, gently taking control. His hands were roped around her waist, pulling her closer, her hands combed through his hair, making it messier than normal.

After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled apart, lips swollen and red, cheeks flushed.

'Lipgloss!' James realized. 'She was wearing a new shade of lipgloss!'


End file.
